Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to mitigating the effect of slugging in a well.
Description of the Related Art
Horizontal well completions are increasingly common in unconventional and tight developments. The wells are deep and typically have long laterals (true vertical depth (TVD) from 5000 to 10,000 feet and laterals from 3,000 to 10,000 feet and higher). A common occurrence in such wells is the presence of “slugs” in the flow, which generally refers to a relatively high concentration of liquid followed by periods of relatively high concentrations of gas flow.
Non-homogeneity of a reservoir, multi-stage completion practices, and lateral geometries can all promote significant slugging activities in such wells. Slugging may also occur in conventional wells and gas-lifted wells, as well as deep-sea production wells, where riser induced slugging is often observed.